Yusha
by Spitzal
Summary: Sawada Tsunayoshi was nothing like Reborn expected.
1. The best laid plans of mice and men

The day her son was born was the happiest day of Sawada Nana's life. He was the most beautiful baby she had ever seen, with his sunset orange eyes, wispy dark blonde hair, and the most adorably pointed ears. Tsunayoshi was the most wonderful mix of herself and her darling husband Iemitsu. Tsuna was quiet, not crying like most newborns, and some of the nurses gave the baby worried glances, but Nana and Iemitsu didn't care. He was perfect.

Tsuna was four years old when Iemitsu's boss, Timoteo, came for a visit. Timoteo was a kind older man with hair that had long since turned gray and laughter lines deep on his face. He stayed in the Sawada home for a week before he left, taking Iemitsu with him, to return to Italy. Tsuna didn't remember the day his father and "Nonno" left, having come down with a sudden fever.

If Timoteo and Iemitsu had stayed just another day, they would have felt the seal the Vongola boss had placed on the young sky break in spectacular fashion, unable to contain a flame much stronger and far more pure than itself. Fortunately for Tsuna, they were gone, content with the knowledge that the boy was sealed and safely hidden from the mafia. They did not know the consequences of their actions.

Years later, after the deaths of three of Timoteo's children and the imprisonment of his fourth, he would send Reborn to unseal and train Tsuna as the next Don. He had no idea what his actions had set in motion.

After waking up in so many unfamiliar or strange places, Link was pleasantly surprised when he awoke in a familiar room. He wasn't sure why it was familiar, but it was, and he had long ago learned to appreciate the little things in life. The soft bed in what appeared to be a child's room was leagues above waking on top of a stone slab in a pool of water.

The last thing he remembered was falling asleep in his quarters in the Zora's Domain, his body weak. He had defeated Calamity Ganon, had even lived for a few years afterward, but that was largely through his sheer stubborn will and refusal to leave Zelda alone so soon after she'd been freed.

The Calamity had infected him with its blight before he managed to defeat it, and although Zelda and Mipha had managed to heal him, it had taken a toll on his body that had killed him slowly and silently. By the time Link had realized what was happening it was already too late. None of that explained why he was alive and felt better than he had in years, but the former Champion was nothing if not adaptable, he was sure he would figure out what was going on eventually. Maybe…

Sitting up, Link decided to get a good look at himself. He'd been running around for over a week after leaving the Shrine of Resurrection before he'd been able to take a good look at himself, but there was a rather convenient mirror on the back of what he figured was the closet door. He noticed immediately that something was very different than it should have been.

Curious, yet somehow resigned, Link pushed himself out of bed and walked to the mirror. Everything about him was small. He was reminded of Purah and how she'd accidentally turned herself into a child, despite the Sheikah researcher being well over a hundred years old. Although, he had a strong feeling this wasn't as simple as an experiment gone wrong.

Link's features hadn't changed very much despite his child-like form, his hair was still the same color and his ears were as pointy as always, but his face seemed softer somehow. His eyes were the most noticeable change, their sky blue color was replaced by a deep amber while they had a more almond shape to them. He was, in a word, adorable.

Link's ears twitched as he caught the sound of footsteps coming in his direction before coming to a stop outside the other door in the room. There was a light knock before it was opened and Link turned to see who it was.

"Tsuna-kun, are you awake?"

A woman with brown hair and eyes opened the door, smiling at the sight of him, that felt familiar to the Hylian. Unfortunately, much like the room he was in, he didn't know why the woman was familiar. He didn't remember ever seeing her before.

Namimori was quite a culture shock to Link, it was even larger and more populated than Castle Town before it's destruction. With so many people in one area, he'd expected to see at least a few Gorons, Gerudo, and Rito around, maybe even a Zora or two. Instead he had only seen Hylians, although none of them had the long ears distinctive of Hylians, and the only people he'd seen with hair as white as a Sheikah's were the elderly, though none of them had long ears and they lacked the style of dress and red markings many Sheikah favored.

The technology and the buildings were also unfamiliar, unlike anything else he'd ever seen in Hyrule. There were buildings as tall as Hyrule Castle and not a single horse in sight, people were instead inside vehicles he'd learned were called cars, while others took trains and the occasional few took motorcycles similar to his own Master Cycle Zero. There was a lot Link would have to learn about the new land he found himself in, but at least there weren't any monsters.

Nana, his mother, had taken him to the healers, although they were very different from the ones Link had encountered. They had diagnosed him with amnesia, which the Hylian didn't entirely agree with, along with a few other things that he didn't bother listening to that Nana accepted with surprising ease. The healers had confirmed he was truly Sawada Tsunayoshi, Nana's son, despite his lack of response to the name no matter how many times they used it, and that there was nothing life-threateningly wrong with him. He was hale and hearty and that was enough for both Nana and Link to leave the hospital building without worry.

The healers had wanted to keep him there for testing because of his amnesia, but all it took was a glare from the four year old and a shake of the head when Nana asked if he wanted to stay and they had backed off. The Champion was probably more familiar with amnesia than anyone else in the building, the memories would come back with time and familiar sights, if they ever did at all. He also didn't like the feel of some of the staff, they watched too closely and set him on edge when their eyes lingered too long on him and his mother. Link would not be stepping in there again if he could prevent it.

Link couldn't remember his early life in Hyrule, only fragments and the vague wisps of memories long forgotten, but he knew much of it had been spent in Zora's Domain with Mipha or in Hyrule Castle with the father he never remembered. He knew his father had been a knight, thanks to Zelda, but he didn't actually _remember_. Logically, he knew he must have had a mother as well, although no one had ever seen her or heard anything about her. Zelda had told him there had been rumors, before the Castle fell, about him and his father and their lack of any shared features. Somehow, it had apparently evolved into a mess of different stories about his origins.

Most were tame, saying he must have taken after his absent mother or that he'd been found and taken in after a monster attack and wasn't related to his father, while some were much more outlandish. In one story he'd been found alone in the Lost Woods, in another he'd been raised by Lynels and that was why he was so gifted with every weapon he touched, even if it wasn't necessarily a weapon. There had even been one about him being the lost prince of a far-off kingdom, Lorule, whose heir had gone missing around the time Link first became known to Hyrule. There had also been a rumor about his physical similarities to the princess, but it had been settled very quickly by those who remembered her mother and a ritual the Sheikah had performed at King Rhoam's request that proved there was no relation. The only reason Link knew any of this is because Zelda had found the rumors entertaining and kept a record of them. Finding that particular journal had been a welcome distraction from the blight that had overtaken the castle on his way to defeat Calamity Ganon.

Despite his lack of memories, Link was still certain there had never been any schooling for children the way he now had to attend. Ordinarily, children learned the trade of their parents or some skill they showed talent or interest in. The stables were largely maintained by the same families for generations upon generations, although they were quite welcome to anyone who showed interest in horses, and were primarily run by Hylians. Hylians were also the ones who most commonly rode horses since the others races had their own methods for traveling across the land.

Every race had their specialty, for the Hylians it had primarily been their horses. The Gerudo had been known for their skill with intricate jewelry and clothing, the Rito for their instruments and song, as well as archers, the Gorons had been known for mining and precious minerals, and the Zora had been known for their weaponry and enchanting. The Hylians had also been a jack-of-all-trades race, able to learn any of the skills of the other races but lacking the elemental affinities each of the others was known for.

Now, being stuck in the same room for most of the day to learn things he already knew while surrounded by other children all the same current physical age as him, it was the greatest test of patience he'd ever experienced. No shrine could compare to the difficulty of the task laid out before him, one that would span years before it ended. While the rest of the class practiced their writing, a task Link had finished quickly and found incredibly easy compared to writing ancient Sheikah runes for Zelda, he prayed to Hylia for some form of excitement.


	2. Let us always meet with a smile

Some headcannons in this one.

Link was eight the day he met the Sasagawa siblings, it was also the same day he learned he was not as alone in Namimori as he previously believed.

Early on in school, Link's classmates had learned he didn't speak, at least not verbally. Some of the meaner kids had tried to bully him about it at first, but they had quickly given up when he didn't react to any of their barbs. They all started avoiding him after he made his displeasure known when he saw anyone besides himself being bullied, it didn't matter if they were in the same grade or not, the older and bigger the kid, the more painful the inevitable beatdown was. Link was also incredibly helpful by nature, especially to the younger kids, and was known for always having a small smile on his face. He had quirks too, quite a few of them, but he was mostly known for beating up bullies and helping people.

It was no surprise that the first thing he did when he noticed a girl his age being held captive by a group of older boys was dive in head first.

Link was small, he knew from experience that he would always be on the smaller side, but he was fast and difficult for even the most skilled individuals to hit. He was also strong, much more so than his frame should have allowed, which meant that not only could he hit faster, he could also hit stronger than the majority of people he encountered. The group of boys didn't stand a chance when Link set upon them, sprinting into the alleyway they'd chosen to group in like a fox after a rabbit.

Link leaped onto the first boy, high enough in the air to plant his feet on the older boys back and push off, sending him crashing to the ground with the wind knocked out of him. Keeping the momentum from the push off, Link twisted in the air and tucked in his legs, colliding knees first with another boy's chest and letting his full weight take him down. There was a painful wheeze from the chest underneath him and sounds of shock behind him, but the Hylian didn't wait for any of them to react. Performing a rather acrobatic backwards tumble off the boy he'd just taken down, he evaded the sound of wind whistling behind him and twisted to come up in front of the holder of what appeared to be a metal pipe. Link didn't think twice, shooting one leg up and kicking the pipe wielder in the groin. His hands came up before he finished his kick, one going into the boy's sternum while the other grabbed the pipe and twisted it out of the middle schooler's grip in a well-practiced motion.

Link, pipe in hand, turned to the remaining four boys with a determined glint in his eyes and was pleased to see the hesitation at attacking someone half their size who had just taken out three of them without so much as a by-your-leave. They were unprepared for the Hylian to suddenly dash into the middle of them and spin like a whirling dervish of pain with a lead pipe and leave three more of them moaning in pain on the ground. The last wannabe thug, the one holding the girl, seemed to have at least one braincell left when he froze as soon as Link looked at him. Link cocked his head and put on an expression he knew could make even a Red Lynel pause and the boy shoved the girl towards him with a whimper. He ran off like he was being hunted while Link caught the girl and steadied her, taking note of her features for the first time.

She was smaller than he was, coming up just past his shoulders, and Link felt like he knew her somehow. She had dark blond hair threaded through with red strands that appeared to be in a bob from the front but with a long braid down her back. When she looked up at him, he could see the beginnings of delicate features underneath the baby fat, a definite beauty in the future, with eyes an almost hypnotic gold with oddly elongated pupils. She looked familiar to him and her features were very distinctive, but he couldn't remember ever seeing her before.

The two of them stood there for what could have been an eternity, simply staring at each other, surrounded by the pained forms of the middle schoolers Link had taken down. The girl opened her mouth, the beginning of an "L" forming on her tongue, when she tensed up in time for Link to press her against him and jump to the side, lead pipe lashing out and hitting the kid who'd managed to recover and try to attack them in the arm with an audible crack. He went down with a scream, clutching his possibly broken arm, but Link couldn't find it in himself to feel bad about injuring someone who had no qualms holding a little girl hostage no matter how young they were.

Deciding not to test his luck any further, Link sent a cursory glance around the alley and over the middle schoolers before scooping the girl up in a bridal carry. She let out a startled noise but didn't protest, letting Link carry her out of the alley. He kept the pipe in hand, hiding it in the hand under the girl's knees, just in case he was attacked again and headed for the nearby park. The girl was quiet the entire way and Link bit back a laugh at the incredibly red blush on her cheeks. She really was familiar, maybe she went to his school? Or perhaps they had met when he was little and he just didn't remember, back when he was Tsuna? It was possible, but he didn't think that was the case, he would ask her at the park after he made sure she was okay.

The park was a short walk away from the alley, where Link had been headed when he stumbled across the group of middle schoolers. The streets weren't crowded, only a few people here and there, and no one spared him more than a cursory glance. All they needed to see were Link's pointed ears to dismiss whatever he was doing. The citizens of Namimori were quite used to his antics, letting the Hylian reach his destination quickly.

Finally at the park, Link made his way to a nearby tree before setting the girl on her feet. He made sure she was steady before stepping away from her, a gentle look on his face as he once more tried to figure out if he knew her. Her gaze was fixed on him, gold eyes intent, as she brought her hands up and clasped them together tightly. She almost appeared to be praying as she looked at him, an odd mix of hope and desperation on her face when she spoke, "Is it, really you? Link?"

Link's eyes widened slightly, surprised the girl knew his name, his _real_ name. Aside from his mother, everyone still called him Tsunayoshi and he'd never bothered to correct them, it was a waste of his words to do so. Yet, somehow, this girl knew his _name_. He took in her features again, wracking his brain further to remember her, but he just couldn't place her.

The girl's shoulders hunched when he didn't answer, hands tightening their grip on each other, and Link felt an odd surge of panic well-up within him, "Do you not remember?" Her head tilted down slightly, looking up at him through her lashes, and Link felt his ears twitch when she continued, "You don't recognize me, do you, Link. I know I look different, but I had hoped…"

The girl pulled her hands close to her chest as her lips twisted downward and her whole form seemed to deflate, shrinking in on herself in a way that caused his breath to hitch. For a second, Link saw another girl in front of his eyes, her red and white form adorned with jewelry as he told her that he was leaving for Hyrule Castle, before it was gone. His voice was quiet and soft, but it reached her ears as easily as it always had, "Mipha."

Her whole form brightened, like watching the sun rise over the horizon as she smiled at him. There was a mess of emotions fighting for control in Link's mind, though none of them showed on his face. Gentle hands reached out for him, closing the short distance between them and cupping his cheeks as he let out a shuddering breath. He brought his own hands up to cover hers and leaned forward, not stopping until his forehead met her own and he was looking into her eyes. The two of them closed their eyes, unmoving as they familiarized themselves with each other's presence after so many years apart.

The last time he'd seen her she had already been dead, a spirit trapped inside Vah Ruta for a hundred years. Now she was here before him, _alive_. Link didn't know how this was possible, but he thanked Hylia and every other Goddess that might have had a hand in their reunion.

Link and Mipha would have been content to stand with each other all day, basking in their reunion, if not for the sound of someone calling out to them in an excessively loud voice, "Hey! Get away from my sister!"

Mipha sighed in resignation while Link merely opened his eyes, turning to look in the direction of the voice almost lazily. A boy perhaps a couple years older than Link was running towards them, his hair shockingly white and his eyes the same shade of gold as Mipha's. Link felt his ears twitch when the boy gave him the same sense of familiarity as Mipha had, skidding to a stop in front of them with an angry look on his face. Link heard Mipha sigh again from behind him, although he wasn't sure when he had stepped in front of her, and place her hand gently on his arm. He moved aside easily, letting her step in front of him as he kept an eye on the older boy, "It's alright, brother. Link is a, friend."

Link heard the hesitation in Mipha's voice at the word friend, although her apparent brother didn't seem to catch it, and the Hylian was reminded suddenly of the Zora Armor she had made for him and Sidon's vehement declarations of her undying love for him. He had known of her feelings before but had been too caught up in preparing for the Calamity to properly return her affections until it was too late, but there was no Calamity now. Link had expected the older boy to relax at Mipha's words, but instead he dropped into a ready stance while his eyes almost seemed to glow, "If that's the Link you told me about, then I'm extremely not just gonna hand you over to him! Fight me!"

A spectacular blush blossomed over Mipha's cheeks while Link just blinked owlishly at the boy, unsure of what was happening. Mipha hunched her shoulders and clasped her hands to her chest, trying to hide the redness that went all the way to the tips of her ears, "Daruk! What are you doing?!"

That explained why the boy was so familiar, although he seemed a bit different than Link remembered. Daruk's reaction, while surprising, was not terribly unexpected. The Goron had always been protective of the other Champions, even Revali, and had once tried to fight Urbosa's husband before she married him. It hadn't mattered that Urbosa was the strongest of the Gerudo and incredibly skilled with a blade, Daruk was notoriously oblivious. Link had never seriously fought the Goron before, but he didn't seem like the Champion he'd known. In his current state, Link had no doubt he could wipe the floor with the older boy.

Daruk stayed in his ready stance, feet planted firmly with his fists raised, "If you're gonna get married, then he extremely has to beat me first!"

Cocking his head to the side, Link glanced at the still bright blush on Mipha's cheeks before reaching a hand out and brushing it against hers. Her eyes found his easily, brushing her hand back in return, as the Hylian gave her a smile before he stepped up to face her brother. He didn't bother speaking, letting his body do the talking as he widened his stance and relaxed his shoulders.

Daruk charged at him with a yell, right fist moving quickly in a jab, but he might as well have been moving in slow motion. A sidestep and a quick grab of Daruk's outstretched arm combined with a twist of Link's hips brought the older boy off balance. The Hylian gave him no chance to recover, sweeping out his leg while the Goron stumbled to send him crashing to the ground. Link kept his grip on the other's arm, letting himself be brought down with the momentum so he wouldn't accidentally rip the arm out of its socket, and twisted it behind and up Daruk's back. The grip was just shy of painful, enough to let the former Goron know he was holding back, while he used his body weight to pin him down.

The older boy struggled for a moment, trying unsuccessfully to break free, but he stopped when Link pushed his arm further up his back in response. Daruk's pain tolerance was significantly higher than anyone else's his age, but it wasn't enough to handle having his shoulder nearly dislocated. Link relaxed his hold as soon as Daruk stopped fighting, removing his weight from the other and standing with a grin on his face, one that was returned once Daruk picked himself up off the ground.

The two boys made eye contact, an unspoken agreement passing through them, before they both reached out their hands and gripped the others tightly in front of them, "You better take care of my sister, little bro. Otherwise I'll beat you black and blue, to the extreme!"

Link gave him a determined look in return, even as the two of them tried to turn the other's hand into paste with the strength of their grip, and nodded in agreement. Mipha stepped up beside them and placed her hands over their own, a resigned look on her face even as Link felt the familiar soothing touch of her healing powers, "That's enough you two, there's no need for you to fight each other. We're far too young to be thinking of… Thinking of marriage. Or anything of the sort."

Link knew he was sometimes too oblivious for his own good, but he could clearly hear the disappointment in Mipha's voice. Physically a child he might have been, he was still considerably older in mind and soul, and he already had enough regrets from his first lifetime. He wasn't about to add to that list.

When the blue light of Mipha's Grace stopped, Link turned to the former Zora and reached out to her slowly. He gave her plenty of time to step away as his hand reached behind her and took hold of her long braid, bringing it forward between them and pressing his lips gently against it. The effect wasn't the same as it would have been if she was still physically a Zora, but it was an incredibly intimate gesture laden with meanings for the aquatic race.

The princess ducked her head shyly but managed to keep her eyes on him, the golden orbs misting with unshed tears. There was a small smile on her face, a timid, hopeful thing that Link wanted to protect with every fiber of his being. He failed her once, failed all the Champions, but he refused to do so again. This was truly a second chance.


End file.
